


Wavelength

by Colamiilk



Series: Enrollment [1]
Category: Soul Eater
Genre: Drabble, Giriko getting called out because it was bound to happen, I'm just here to bring it to life, Idea by someone else, Interaction Study, Justin is bad at dealing with kids, Literally no one signed up for this awkward situtation, Lord Death has to deal with so much, Multi, Redemption AU, who is this, wow am I finally writing the main characters of the show
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:06:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23732059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Colamiilk/pseuds/Colamiilk
Summary: "Oh Meister Maka how did you get down here? You know students shouldn’t be here without faculty approval… Justin did you leave the door open?” Lord Death looked back to address the scythe who promptly glared at someone else in the room, quickly shifting the blame to the other he found far more likely to be the culprit. Maka understood the feeling.
Relationships: Giriko/Justin Law, Maka Albarn/Soul Eater Evans
Series: Enrollment [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2059023
Comments: 6
Kudos: 29





	Wavelength

**Author's Note:**

  * For [consolusmaximus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/consolusmaximus/gifts).



> For consolus who asked me if Justin could have somewhere like Crona where his soul wasn't visible and I just ran with it because I do that sometimes.

“Maka this is getting old, we can’t keep staying late like this for study, it's not cool at all.” Maka felt her eyebrow twitch as she listened to Soul’s complaints, he had been whining since class ended, acting like she was asking him to sit on nails here. She couldn’t focus at all like this, it was hard enough to practice seeing souls in such a wide radius, through so many people… the entire academy was still crowded with people after hours and that was more than enough for her to start her practice with.

“Be patient, this is going to help both of us you know?” Soul groaned and sat back down so dramatically that she kicked his ankle in punishment. He made some kind of pathetic grumble before falling silent for what Maka assumed would be another 5 minute interval. Trying her best to ignore him she sighed out her stress and refocused on the soul wavelengths milling about the academy. Weapons, Meisters, all of them unique and working at a slightly different tune and…

Standing up abruptly Soul made a noise of shock, telling her to stop freaking out or something as she stared down through the floors of the academy, asking herself over and over again if she was seeing this right… it had to be though. There was no way a soul like that could be misinterpreted. Swallowing thickly she grabbed Soul’s hand and began to run out of the classroom with a determined expression knotting up her face.

“Jesus Maka! What the hell is going on!?” Dodging the confused straggling students also staying late and a few confused faculty members that yelled after them not to run down the halls Maka waited until they were somewhere more quiet to let Soul in on what was going on. She couldn’t cause a panic, no one but Soul could hear this… ducking into one of the side hallways near the basement entrance in the back of the school she went to whisper in his ear.

“There’s a Kishin soul in here, not only that though, there's a soul that doesn’t seem right… it’s human but there's something wrong with it… and there's no one else there! There isn’t any other living soul around them!” Soul’s face went pale at first, almost trying to talk Maka out of this without any words because it was surely far more than he had signed up for today, but after a second a horrible smile peeled up his face and he met their hands in a close firm grasp of trust. They both knew they were going to figure out what was going on down there come hell or high water.

Heading to the descending door Maka tested the handle, clicking her tongue when it was locked. She really should’ve seen that coming… Still they couldn’t just give up here! Jiggling the knob a few times she scrunched up her eyebrows before kneeling down and getting out her student card to slip in between the door jam. Soul whistled in a way that made her stop to glare over her shoulder in a demand for him to explain himself, he only smiled.

“Ms. Picture perfect student is really going to break the rules to get down there? I'm surprised you could even think of something like this.” Rolling her eyes she went back to shimming the door open standing back up when it was done and swung the door open just enough to slip her and Soul through. They couldn’t waste time here, she was  _ not  _ going to get caught here, not until she got the kishin egg down there and proved herself anyway.

“Would you rather go back knowing there’s a kishin running under our school, unopposed, doing whatever?” Shaking his head loosely he started down the hall with his hands in his pockets, motioning for Maka to follow with a tilt of his head, as if he even knew the way without her showing him. Moving to catch up they moved through the darkened halls, all lit up like someone had set things up here and was working… Maka’s eyebrows knitted together. She was certain no one but that one beaten up soul and the kishin egg was down here… She still didn’t see anyone else either… something was definitely going on.

Moving towards the souls, Maka's eyes widened as she saw the kishin soul begin to thrash and suddenly disappear, like it had been eaten… the soul there wasn’t nearly close enough though. Breaking into a run Soul tripped to follow her, this wasn’t good at all… There was something sinister happening. Running down a darkened hallway and few staircases that had them descend far far underground they found themselves through a door far too embellished for being so hidden. 

The door rattled for a second and she backed up with a gasp, falling back into Soul’s arms, who also looked to be concerned to find out what was waiting for them. What came out was the last thing either of them expected, and it seemed like they were the last thing on earth they were expecting. The mutual little scream of shock had both parties jumping back, in subconscious self defense. 

“L-Lord Death?” The shock that washed over Maka was like ice cold water, she had known before that she couldn’t see his soul but the fact he was down here and not up in the Death Room was shocking, he almost never left that room. To add to that shock she saw a blur of blonde hair and a tired face moving in the background behind the god, pounding music coming out of his ears… Death Scythe Justin.

“Oh, Oh Meister Maka how did you get down here? You know students shouldn’t be here without faculty approval… Justin did you leave the door open?” Lord Death looked back to address the scythe who promptly glared at someone else in the room, quickly shifting the blame to the other he found far more likely to be the culprit. Maka understood the feeling. The voice that responded fired a couple of old neurons in the back of her brain… she had heard that person speak before.

“Hey don’t fucking look at me! I wasn’t the one to lock the door, you fucking did it don’t you remember!?” That was the beaten up soul… the human soul that didn’t feel quite right… in which case… where was Justin’s? Maka had seen his soul before and it was overpowering, suffocating with it’s strength. She couldn’t feel it at all right now. She could see him plain as day but there was no soul… stumbling back as Lord Death walked out the door to let Justin out she felt the scythe’s soul suddenly thunder back into her view the second he passed through the door frame, painfully strong with how much she was straining to see it before. 

“L-Lord Death what is that!? How- Death Scythe Justin- He- His soul wavelength just appeared out of nowhere!” Lord Death tilted his head before looking back at Justin, the scythe stiffening up obediently under the attention. If Maka wasn’t so preoccupied with trying to figure out what the hell had just happened she would feel bad for making her superior have to perform more than he had to because of her questioning. She was far too interested though, she  _ had  _ to know what was happening. That shift was insane, that shouldn’t be possible, it was unlike anything she had ever seen before.

“Ah… I wasn’t expecting to teach a lesson today but do you remember when you first found Crona?” Thinking about their short stint in Italy where they had found Crona Maka bit the inside of her cheek… They had been in a weird church and what had originally led Maka there was the fact that something had felt wrong just like it had now… and Crona’s soul wasn’t showing up right, not until Ragnarok had revealed himself. 

“Yes yes Justin’s soul space is right here, it's impossible to know he is around until it's too late.” Wait… Soul space? Was it possible for a person to hide themselves entirely like witches could suppress their wavelengths to look like a human’s? Was Crona trying to do that? Was Justin that strong that he could just disappear from meister’s soul radar? Why only in this one space? Did Lord Death do something to it? So many questions bounced around Maka’s head, all important and that she needed to know… the first one that came out though was… 

“Was… Was there just an execution? I saw a kishin soul and now it's gone… did… Justin…” A weird sticky silence fell over them all and Maka’s mouth turned sour. This was what the academy did, it wasn’t any different then them hunting Kishin eggs themselves… but something about knowing a Death Scythe had just consumed a soul was almost beyond thinking. They were already so strong… Justin was only 17 but he had undoubtedly been eating the souls of every execution since he had been instated… how many was that? How powerful was the weapon in front of her right now?

“Who the hell even are you you little brat? Haven’t you heard shit about respecting your elders?” In the second horrible shock of the day Maka’s mouth fell open as Giriko, the man who tried to kill them, walked out after Justin with a horrible glare on his face. Everything she was thinking got completely wiped from her mind and Soul’s grip on her shoulders tightened. Justin closed his eyes with a completely outraged expression but before he could cut the enchanter off Giriko continued.

“You’re demanding too many answers you don’t deserve kid.” The beaten up human soul… it was him. Maka couldn’t believe she didn’t recognize it… she couldn’t believe this man was still allowed to be alive. Justin looked over at Giriko, his frown getting even worse when his remipranding glare was met with a defiant glare back. They looked to be having a silent fight between each other, somehow understanding what they were trying to say without words. Maka was in a state of shock, nothing made sense here. 

“Giriko I told you to mind your tongue while we were down here, is it really so impossible for you to just wait quietly? You were the one that wanted to come with me.” Justin’s voice was so tired but it also wasn’t as angry or alarmed as Maka would expect. Giriko had to be a prisoner, right? There was no way he was just hanging out here… he had to be someone that was about to be executed like that kishin egg had, or… or something like that. But why was he unrestrained? 

“The brat is disrespecting you, are you really so much of a pushover to let a student say whatever they want about you?” Justin sighed so heavily that Maka could feel the irritation from all the way over here. They were arguing like a married couple, like people who cared about each other… Maka was at a complete loss, there was clearly something big she was missing here.

“It’s a child Giriko, I don’t care what they have to say. They don’t understand what they’re really saying.” There was an angry huff from Soul behind her and she couldn’t help but mirror the sentiment. They had never really heard Justin talk before, at least not like this, he usually was just saying exactly what he was supposed to or praying. This was  _ so  _ much more personable and it was… weird to say the least. Justin had far more of a detachment from people then the rumors already had claimed he did. He was talking like they weren’t even here. 

“You say that like you aren’t a child yourself you little-” Lord Death coughed and Justin slammed his elbow into Giriko’s stomach, making the man curl over in pain as the scythe stood at attention. It was a bunch of movement all at once, almost cartoonish, Maka could see Lord Death sweat trying to figure out how he was going to deal with these two. The last thing Justin had ever seemed like was a troublemaker but Maka wouldn’t be surprised if Giriko was just that hard to deal with. 

“Justin, Giriko keep yourselves together right now. There are students we need to take care of before all of that.” Justin nodded in understanding and Giriko rubbed the back of his head and looked away. Maka didn’t miss how Justin’s elbow was perfectly placed to ram back into Giriko’s solar plexus, a silent threat to be obedient. That was the final nail in the coffin, they knew each other as far more than just enemies… There wasn’t any ignoring it. Especially not with Lord Death acknowledging both of them like they were a unit. An unbelievable anger lit up in Maka’s soul.

“Lord Death! What is he doing here!? He almost killed us! He worked for Arachne!” Giriko looked down at her with a murderous glare and Justin stepped quietly in front of the enchanter in a way that seemed to be for her safety at first… but as their body language changed Maka realized Justin was protecting Giriko from  _ her _ . Was this the same Scythe that saved their life from the very man behind him? He couldn’t be… Justin was supposed to be the school’s most devout, following the rules so perfectly and admirably in a way Maka had honestly been jealous of, he wouldn’t take care of a man that was guilty of war crimes.

“Ah yes well… He’s become one of our prime researchers, he has years of practice with work the academy has only dreamed of having before. Justin got him to agree to work with us and make up for his wrong doings.” Maka didn’t miss how Giriko rolled his eyes and how Justin grabbed onto his face with a grip that looked like it really hurt to silently scold him while Lord Death still wasn’t paying attention to them. She was barely paying attention to them herself anymore though. Her mind was running at a million miles a second as she tried to process that monster being employed here.

“After you gave Crona such a hard time you’re accepting someone like that! He doesn’t have any remorse for what he did! Spent centuries doing!” The sigh Lord Death gave made it clear that her words weren’t going to change anything, but that she was also  _ right _ . They weren’t going to be able to talk their way out of this because Giriko was guilty and didn’t deserve to be here completely absolved from his crimes. They had ‘absolved’ Medusa and still had sent Crona to go kill her, why was this bastard different? 

Moving to say something again, to demand answers for why he was allowed to get away with such things, Justin stopped her, stepping forward. Maka and Soul both scrambled back as the Academy’s executioner approached them, ignoring Lord Death’s concerned noise entirely. Justin didn’t stop until he was towering over them, what would’ve been face to face if they weren’t so much shorter than he was. 

“Giriko’s repentance and punishment is up to me, I was given control over him after bringing him in at the end of our war. I decide what happens here and what he is guilty of. That is my position in the academy. My job as assigned by Lord Death himself, are you doubting our work in making this academy a fair and just place?” It wasn’t easy to intimidate Maka, she had gone up against the kishin himself after all, but there was something about Justin right now that was turning her blood cold. Justin spoke with no room for question, with a power of the Death Scythes that  _ did  _ have this kind of control but who almost never held it over students like this. 

No one had ever stood up against Maka and punished her in any way for questioning things before, Justin didn’t seem to have any qualms about putting her in her place though. Tsubaki had always nervously asked if she was worried about pushing too far one day but that had felt impossible, Lord Death was so understanding and encouraged growth and fresh ideas of things even when he disagreed and did what he obviously had the final say in. Lord Death wasn’t stepping in right now, he wasn’t telling Justin he couldn’t say what… what he most certainly could say. He was in his place to tell Maka to stand down.    


Maka had never felt so small so fast… No wonder everyone was so scared of Justin.

“Yeah she is, what kinda logic are you guys using here?” Soul’s voice was angry, sensing her fear and getting upset that someone was forcing them down like this. Justin didn’t look perturbed, he stayed as horrifying as he was when he first approached, his expression not shifting at all. Justin was the academy executioner, he didn’t deal with anyone but prisoners, with enemies of the academy, it was well known that the other elites always took over for him when it came to the students and as they were now learning, there was a big reason for that. 

“Justin I’ll take care of this, will you and Giriko go finish the cleaning up back there? I can give you the paperwork later.” Justin stayed still for a second before finally ripping his bone chilling gaze away to look at Lord Death and head back over, Giriko putting his arm around the executioner reassuringly, as if he was the one who had gotten the brunt of that encounter. Maka had always kinda known that Justin’s cheerful facade was just that, a facade, but this was far more than she was expecting to be underneath.

Were the other Death Scythes like this? Suddenly Maka was acutely aware of the fact that  _ all  _ the Death Scythes seemed so friendly to all the students, even Justin was friendly just walking around campus, he was just awkward about it… were the rest of the scythe’s just better at it? Surely they had to be more like Justin was acting when it came to more serious matters… 

It came like a cold shower over Maka when she realized that Justin had taken her seriously. That was the difference between him and the other scythes, what made him ‘weird’. Justin himself had said they were ‘just children’ but once it came to a matter that clearly was important to him that notion had been thrown out. Justin was 4 years older than them, which wasn’t all that much at the end of the day. Giriko himself had pointed out that Justin was a kid. 

It was starting to fall together, Justin had been taught to see the students as something to treat in an entirely different way… all the Death Scythe’s probably did that. Justin knew that their opinions didn’t matter, just like the other Death Scythes who just didn’t say that point blank like Justin had earlier, but had forgotten when they started making a good argument that infringed on his work. He had been taking them seriously and treating them how the other Scythe’s would’ve if they didn’t all just play pretend knowing they weren’t really going to listen. After all, when had Maka actually changed their minds on anything?

Justin’s soul wavelength disappeared back into oblivion as he walked back into the execution room, dragging Giriko with him, who had a rather dirty smile on his face that gave Maka an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach. She had a feeling before in what way they were a ‘unit’ but now she was sure… she wasn’t sure how to feel about that. She wasn’t sure how there hadn’t been any rumors about that yet, it seemed more than scandalous enough. More importantly, how had she never even known Giriko was here until now? Had no one seen this at all? 

This had been far too confusing of an evening… She was more than ready to get home and take a bath. It didn’t seem like she was going to get anymore answers from Lord Death today anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is really all over the place and has no huge plot to it, its just an exploration of the space and the greater world of Giriko and Justin interacting with more people because I don't put them in many situations with people other than each other. Hopefully its still a fun read and not too obviously of a study XD


End file.
